Colonel Behzad Mo’ezzi, who was reputed to be Iran’s most important pre-revolution Iranian pilot, and who was the pilot taking the Shah on his last flight from Iran to Egypt and then Morocco in the midst of the 1979 revolution, has died in Paris in a hospital at the age of 83 of leukemia.
Iranian Resistance pilot
Col. Behzad Mo’ezzi was part of the Iranian Air Force for nearly 25 years. Because he had recorded the most flight hours of any Iranian pilot he was selected to be the Shah’s personal pilot. He was also the pilot that flew Iran’s main opposition leader, Massoud Rajavi, into exile.
Col. Mo’ezzi’s admirable perseverance inspires the freedom-loving service members in the military in rising up against the clerical regime. Honoring the memory of Iran’s national hero, Air Force Pilot, Col. Behzad Mo’ezzi. #Iran #عقاب_تیزپرواز_ایران https://t.co/a7fXjbJ3RQ pic.twitter.com/nzGSrXqmeb
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) January 17, 2021
Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said: “I have always been indebted to him because of his great patriotic contribution of taking Massoud Rajavi to safety.” Mo’ezzi became a key target of the regime’s security and intelligence apparatus, such as the extraterritorial Quds Force.
Mo’ezzi was born on Feb. 6th, 1938 in Tehran and was a descendant of the royal Qajar dynasty, his grandparents were well-heeled landowners. His father was Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Mo’ezzi who, according to Mo’ezzi, had an influence on him.
His days at high school in the early 1950s took place during the early days of Iran’s oil nationalization movement led by an enigmatic nationalist leader, Mohammad Mossadeq. It didn’t take long for Mo’ezzi to identify politically as a follower of Mossadeq.
The National Council of Resistance of #Iran held a special meeting to pay tribute to the national hero, Colonel Behzad Mo’ezzi. The meeting connected NCRI members in various countries with PMOI members at Ashraf 3, and featured speeches by Maryam Rajavi & NCRI members. pic.twitter.com/oxVTtKKx10
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) January 16, 2021
Iran-Iraq war
In 1980, when Iraq invaded Iran, Mo’ezzi signed up to defend his homeland. Throughout the Iran-Iraq war, he flew no less than 1,200 hours and was one of the most esteemed pilots among his peers.
He was going to take up a career in agriculture but was persuaded by a newspaper advert to apply to be an air force pilot. The recruitment process is not easy to pass.
In 1958, he was sent to the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, U.S., where he was taught to fly T-34 and T-37 single-engine military trainer aircraft. He was later sent to the Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Oklahoma, where he earned his aviator badge. In the 1970s, after being recognized with exceptional skills he was sent to Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama (Air University), where he was trained as a squadron commander.
#WeSupportMEK
My sincere condolences for the loss of our great Mojahed pilot, Col. Behzad Mo’ezzi.A member of the National Council of Resistance of #Iran, who had a historic role as a standard bearer of the patriotic Air Force personnel, opposing Shah and mullahs. pic.twitter.com/pGtogLcyS3
— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) January 19, 2021
The pilot for the monarch’s final flight
In 1979, when the Shah was forced out of Iran, Mo’ezzi was the pilot for the monarch’s final flight to Egypt and then on to Morocco. The Shah’s plane was flown back to Iran as “property of the Iranian people.”
In 1980, when Iraq invaded Iran, Mo’ezzi signed up to defend his homeland. He flew at least 1,200 hours throughout the Iran-Iraq war which gained him respect. At the same time, he maintained contact with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran), which is the main opposition force.
The soaring eagle in the sky of freedom
The hero who led the riskiest flights
The pilot of the People’s Mojahedin,
Colonel Behzad Mo’ezzi has become eternal#عقاب_تیزپرواز_ایران pic.twitter.com/9XE2kYjrEy— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) January 19, 2021
The pilot of another historic flight
On July 29th, 1981, a month after Khomeini’s forces ordered intervention into a huge peaceful protest by 500,000 people in Tehran, Mo’ezzi was the pilot of another historic flight which involved flying a Boeing 707 and Massoud Rajavi, the (PMOI / MEK Iran) leader, and the first post-revolutionary president, Abolhassan Banisadr.
When the flight took off, senior air force officials ordered F-14 Tomcats to pursue the aircraft. But the Tomcats did not shoot down the 707 out of respect for Mo’ezzi, who flew the plane over the Damavand peak and crossed Iranian airspace into Turkey, finally arriving in Paris, where then-French Foreign Minister, Claude Cheysson let the plane land. Once in Paris, Rajavi campaigned for the international recognition of the NCRI as the democratic alternative to the regime.
Col. Mo’ezzi, a hero to many in Iran
Col. Mo’ezzi, a hero to many in Iran — especially the generation of the revolution — never gave up his dream of flying back to Iran with the leaders of the opposition. He lived a quiet life in the NCRI’s headquarters near Paris until his recent death. He is survived by two children, a son, Amir, and a daughter, Sara, who live in Paris.
Everyone noticed his virtues, & his humane & popular attributes. He had absolutely no interest in wealth, job, ambitions, positions, and even personal affluence. In this regard, as Massoud Rajavi said, he was truly a pious dervish. #عقاب_تیزپرواز_ایران pic.twitter.com/MdDFypLWO8
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) January 17, 2021
MEK Iran (follow them on Twitter and Facebook)
and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTube